I Promise You
by JoannaKuwabara
Summary: *Please Read Warnings Inside*- Why did it always happen to his best friend? The rich boy could have done something to instigate it but from how badly the boy looked, it seemed it was unjustified. If only the blond had been able to stop it, if only he was there to protect his best friend..."Never again." the blond whispered as he held his hand, "I promise you."


**I Promise You**

**Word Count:** 4,501 (without the warnings, disclaimers, and both author notes)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own nor make a profit by using the characters from the 1984 Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. Two characters are my original characters and are the only thing I own.

**Warnings:** blood, bullying, vomit, suggestive dialogue, language, possibly ooc, a/u, swirly, graphic violence, oc(s), mentions of mild child abuse, and depression.

If any of these things trigger you please do not read! Do not say I didn't warn you.

**A/N:** Hey! So this is something I've been working on for a while. It's pretty graphic (for me anyway) and something I usually don't write but I was in a mood...*looks around* Anyway, it kinda leads into another story for this show that I've been working on for a while. It was supposed to be a flashback broken up and placed between certain scenes. But after some thought I felt it was too much for the story. So I decided to put it as a oneshot.

It doesn't really have too much to deal with the other story. It's just mentioned a couple times and is done to develop the pairing I have for that story, which is Hank/Eric. Although, there is another pairing in there that you'll all find out when that one gets published. I'm hoping I get it done soon since it's been so long since I've been working on it and I'm getting the itch to just post it haha.

I hope you guys (who aren't triggered by the warnings above) enjoy this! And hopefully I can finish the other story so I can post it.

Enjoy!

* * *

School had just finished for the day and if it wasn't for his best friend, he would be home playing video games. But no. Here Eric was sitting on the bleachers watching tryouts. Tryouts for goodness sake! It wasn't even like a real football game!

Eric didn't really need to watch his best friend tryout. He already knew the blond hair blue eyed jock would make the team. He was great at all sports. But that's the price for being the best friend to a jock.

He wasn't alone at least.

Diana and Sheila had come out to watch the tryouts and cheer on Hank. Not that the blond needed a cheering squad. But that wasn't the point. The point was Eric was sitting on the bench with a bunch of girls, the only guy really sitting in the bleachers, watching a bunch of guys throw balls and tackle each other.

Eric huffed as he watched the tryouts. He felt silly sitting in the stands but he had promised Hank he would 'cheer' his best friend on. Just the look on the blond's face had made Eric choose to come and watch.

"Great job!" shouted the coach as another player caught a ball Hank threw.

"Doesn't he look amazing?" Sheila said with a dreamy sounding sigh.

"Yeah..." Eric said, also being impressed by the pass.

His eyes widened before he found the two girls looking at him.

"I-I mean, he's pretty good. I mean, anyone can throw a ball." he said with a huff.

"Then why don't you try out Eric?" Diana said with a snicker.

Eric faltered for a moment.

"Well I..."

"You know...you'd probably be a great running back." Diana said with a smile.

Eric sat there with wide brown eyes and a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Y-you really think so?"

"I've seen you run." Sheila said with a small giggle.

Diana joined the girl in the giggling but nodded.

Eric furrowed his eyebrows as the two girls giggled. He wasn't sure if they were just making fun of him or being serious.

It wasn't like he hadn't thought of doing so before. Although, it was for more selfish reasons.

Hank had always been into sports and would be top in any team he joined. During those seasons, he would spend less time with the rich kid and it would make him feel sad and lonely. Sure he would hang out with Presto but the two only started hanging out the last two years. He was dreading high school. So with Hank joining the football team, which he would totally make, they wouldn't be able to hang out much. His biggest fear was losing his best friend. He could make new friends from the football team. Friends who have the same interests as the blond.

"I have to go to the bathroom." he mumbled before heading off to the locker room, where they had the closest bathrooms.

Sheila and Diana looked at each other and shrugged before going back to watching the tryouts.

Eric roughly pushed open the bathroom door open and walked over to the mirror. He let out a sigh as his hands gripped the sink. He stared into his own chocolate brown eyes. He couldn't see how him joining the football team would be a good idea. Besides, the two girls were most likely just making fun of him. If their giggling was an indication, they were totally just fooling with him.

Eric sighed before turning on the faucet. He waited until the water was lukewarm before splashing it in his face. He just needed to clear his head before heading back to the bleachers. He turned off the faucet and reached for the paper towel dispenser. After a few more tries, he was able to grab onto one and wiped his face. He let out a sigh as he looked at himself in the mirror.

His eyes blinked for a moment as he noticed two older looking boys standing behind him. His eyes widened before he yelped and turned around.

One of the teens was a bit shorter than Eric but not by much. The guy was bulky but in a muscular way. He had light shaggy brown hair. His bangs just barely covered his light brown eyes. He wore jeans and a black hoodie. His hands were in the hoodie's pockets, which started to unnerve the rich boy.

The other teen who was closer to him was taller than Eric by at least four inches. He had long blond hair tied back into a low ponytail. His face was pretty handsome. His cold blue eyes were even more defined by his high cheekbones. He wore worn tight fitting blue jeans and a nice button down light green shirt.

Eric felt trapped like a rat with two hungry looking cats staring him down. His brown eyes glanced over to the door. Could he make it? The girls did say he was a fast runner.

"Uhh...I'm just gonna..." he said, taking a step towards the door.

"Where ya going freshman?" asked the shorter teen.

"I-I was going back to watch the tryouts..." Eric said a bit meekly.

He was trying to not sound like a wuss but he failed miserably.

"What's the hurry?" asked ponytail teen.

"Well I-I...uh..." Eric stumbled over his words.

He took another step towards the door. The ponytail guy took a step towards the rich boy. That was his cue to run. Diana was right, he was fast. However, once he reached the door, he found it locked.

"Damn it." he growled as he fumbled to unlock it.

He had just unlocked it when he was pulled roughly back into the bathroom. He slid all the way until his body slammed against the bathroom's other wall.

"That's pretty rude ya know." said the hoodie guy.

"Hasn't anyone taught you to respect your elders?" the ponytail guy said with a smirk.

The two boys were standing over Eric who was now trembling in fear.

"L-listen! My father is very rich! All I have to do is ask him and he'll give me some money!" Eric said his instinct to survive kicking in.

The two laughed.

"We don't need your money." said the guy in the hoodie.

"T-then what do you want?" Eric asked with scared eyes.

"To have a bit of fun is all." snickered the ponytail guy.

Eric gulped. He knew whatever '_fun_' they wanted wasn't going to be fun for him.

"Stand up." said the ponytail guy.

Eric hesitated.

"He said stand up." the hoodie guy said before grabbing Eric by his shirt and roughly pulling him to his feet.

Eric yelped in surprise before finding himself slammed against the wall. He coughed as some spit flew out of his mouth from the force.

_'Why me..._' Eric thought.

He had always been the target for bullies and didn't know why. Well, some of the time he would instigate it by accident. However there were times like these where he didn't do anything to be picked on.

"He's not too bad to look at..." the ponytail guy said with a quick glance over Eric's body.

"But that will change." he added with a sadistic grin.

Eric trembled as he was held firmly against the bathroom wall.

"What are you going to do?" Eric asked, although he regretted once the words left his mouth.

"We're gonna beat you until yer mom can't even recognize ya." the hoodie guy said with a chuckle.

"Why?" Eric asked with a meek voice.

"Why?" the hoodie guy asked before looking at his friend.

They both laughed.

"You're a freshmen. That means you're fresh meat." the ponytail guy said, laughing at his joke.

"Did you take joke lessons from Presto because that's horrible." Eric said but regretted it once he was slammed against the wall again.

Eric coughed before feeling himself getting lifted a bit off the ground. It was times like these he wished he was still chubby.

"Shut up freshmen." the guy in the hoodie growled.

"Easy there Stan. I want some fun too." the ponytail guy said with a snicker.

"Be my guest Jackie." Stan said, letting go of Eric.

Eric yelped. He felt himself falling but was 'caught' by Jackie. He found himself pushed back against the wall. Jackie seemed to be towering over the trembling rich kid. Eric's eyes filled with fear. He didn't know what the two were going to do to him.

"You're pretty scrawny, even for a freshman." Jackie said before throwing him to the ground.

Eric landed hard and even skidded a bit. It seemed the janitor hadn't cleaned the floor as he landed in a liquid that smelled bad. His clothes were already dirty from the first time he was tossed across the icky bathroom floor. He was beginning to stink.

"Ah! Do you know how expensive this outfit is!" Eric growled, forgetting his 'situation' for a moment.

The two older teens stood above him with sadistic grins.

"Eh, but it's fine." Eric said before curling up into a ball, covering his head.

"Well why don't we 'wash' it." Jackie said with a wide grin.

Stan seemed to understand what his friend ment and grinned just as wide, glancing over to one of the stalls.

Eric uncovered his head with blinking eyes.

"Huh?"

Before he could ask what the teen meant, he was pulled roughly to his feet by the two teens. Each held one arm and began to grab him towards one of the stalls. Eric's eyes widened.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go! Help! Somebody!" Eric screamed as he struggled in the two older teen's grasp.

"Stop struggling." growled a growing annoyed Stan.

"Besides, everyone is watching the tryouts. No one can hear you." laughed Jackie.

Eric gulped as he was now in the stall.

"Seriously, I can give you anything you want!" Eric begged.

"Hmmm...anything?" Stan asked with an interested look.

Eric's brown eyes filled with hope.

"Y-yeah! My father is very rich! I can ask him for anything!" Eric said with a hopeful look and tone to his voice.

The two teens looked at each other. They seemed to be considering it.

"How about a new car?" Jackie asked with a suspicious look.

"Yeah sure! Just name it!" Eric said with more hope in his voice.

"How about a Monte Carlo SS?" asked Jackie with a raised eyebrow.

"Dude that just came out this year!" Stan said with wide eyes.

"Done!" Eric said.

He knew his father had bought more than enough that he wouldn't miss just one car.

"Really?" Jackie said not believing the teen.

Eric furiously nodded his head.

"Are you really gonna believe this freshman?" Stan said squeezing the arm he was holding.

Eric yelped.

Jackie thought it over before laughed.

"Your right, there's no way this kid could get that." he said before getting a firm grip on Eric's arm.

"No! Really! I can ge-" he began before he was lifted into the air and turned over, his head positioned over the unclean toilet.

"Sorry kid, but no deal." Jackie said before looking at his friend.

"No please!" Eric begged but it went unheard.

He found his head in the dirty toilet before it was flushed. He screamed but regretted it as some of the water got in his mouth. He began to gag before throwing up.

Eric spat out the last of the veil from his mouth before he was turned right side up. He was drenched in both vomiet and the dirty water. The two boys let him go, causing the teen to crumble to the ground. They laughed as Eric pulled himself to the toilet and threw up a little more.

"That's gross." laughed Stan.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Jackie said with a shake of his head and a chuckle.

Eric couldn't speak as he spat out a bit more of the vile. The two looked down at him before looking at each other with sadistic grins. They picked him back up.

"Ready for round two?" Stan said with a laugh.

Eric's face grew pale as he shook his head.

"No p-please." he begged, his voice cracked as he began to cry.

"Awww the little freshman is crying over a swirly." teased Jackie before laughing.

"I say we just beat him up, I mean, he already smells like shit. I might barf at this point." Stan said, scrunching up his face in disgust.

Jackie nodded before the two tossed the soggy boy from the stall to the middle of the bathroom floor. Eric's head hit the floor hard causing him to become dizzy. He groaned as he curled up into a ball, holding his injured head. The two boys laughed as they approached the boy.

"I haven't had this much fun in a while." Stan said.

"Yeah. And we aren't even done yet." Jackie said with a sadistic grin.

Eric just laid there in his curled up position, whimpering.

"Please...just stop..." Eric whimpered, his voice so low it was hard to hear.

"But why?" Jackie laughed before kicking Eric's side good and hard.

Eric cried out before the two began to kick and stomp on his body. Eric could feel the bruises forming with each kick. He covered his head as much as he could. He had to protect himself but he didn't know how to fight. Well, he knew some martial arts but that was from kung fu movies. Besides, it was obvious that he was too injured at this to point to even defend himself even if he knew how.

All Eric could do was softly cry. If only someone would come and save him. If only Hank was there. He would be able to kick these jerk's ass easily. However, his best friend was too busy with football. He had to just take the beating and figure out a way how to explain the bruises and possibly a broken arm and ribs to his father. He would be disappointed with him if he heard he got beat up. Well, if his father was home or if his mother wasn't drunk. He closed his eyes and continued to cry, hoping the pain would be over soon.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Alright, that's enough for today!"

Hank let out a relieved sigh as he wiped some sweat from his forehead.

"I'll announce who made the team tomorrow. Just remember, you all did your best and that's all that matters. Now hit the showers!" the football coach said before blowing his whistle.

"Hank!"

Hank turned to see Sheila sitting on the bleachers, along with Diana. He couldn't help but smile before jogging up to the two girls.

"You did great Hank!" Diana said with a smirk, before throwing him a towel.

Hank caught it before wiping away the sweat.

"Thanks." he said to both the compliment and the towel.

"I'm sure you'll make the team! You might even become quarterback!" Sheila said, her eyes shining.

"Come on, I wasn't _that_ good." Hank said with an embarrassed laugh.

"I agree with Sheila. You might become the first freshman to become team captain!" Diana said with a nod and smile.

"Now you're making fun of me." Hank said with a laugh.

He blinked as he looked around.

"Where's Eric?" he asked before taking a sip from a water bottle.

Hank could have sworn he saw the rich kid sitting with the two girls. He couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed and a bit worried that Eric had left in the middle of his tryouts. It caused a slight tightness in his heart at the thought.

"He went to the bathroom a little while ago." Sheila said with a shrug.

It had been a while since the boy left for the bathroom. She didn't notice since she was so focused on the blond. Her crush. She couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Eric. Hank was always with the raven haired teen. They seemed inseparable.

Diana furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"Now that you mention it, it's been at least ten minutes..." Diana said, getting a bad feeling in her gut.

Hank seemed to get the same feeling. He put the water bottle down before dropping the towel onto the bleacher.

"I'll go get him..." he said.

"I'm sure he's fine." Sheila said.

She wanted to spend a bit more time with the blond. It was rare for her to get so close to him.

Hank gave her a soft smile, which made the butterflies in her stomach move all around.

"I'll be back." he said before going towards the men's bathroom.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Eric laid on the cold and dirty floor. His arms protecting his head as his attackers continued to laugh as they beat him. He whimpered as the pain began to grow more with each kick and each stomp of his attackers boots.

So this was how he was going to die? In a dirty boy's bathroom?

Seemed like it.

The family would be ashamed. His father would be more than disappointed at how his pathetic eldest son had died. Not like it would be different than any other day. It would just be worse.

His mother would use this as more of a reason to drink. She already had a problem but now she would have an excuse to dive deeper into the devil's water.

The only person who would probably miss him, other than his black cat, would be his little brother.

Michale.

At the thought of his little brother being left to deal with their parent's wrath made the boy feel even worse. But there wasn't like he could do anything. He wasn't brave and even if he could fight back, that would only bring more trouble to his father. That would mean he would have to face his father's wrath.

Or maybe everything would be better with Eric dying. He was a screw up. He was always a disappointment to his father. Michale would probably be fine with Eric gone.

Eric smiled thinking about his brother. He would be fine. Maybe it was better this way, for everyone.

"Hey? What's that smile?" Stan asked.

The two stopped their beating.

"Have you lost your mind?" asked Jackie.

The two laughed a horrible laugh. It brought a chill down the rich kid's spine and soul.

"Or maybe he likes the pain?"

"You mean a sadistic or was that mascioist? I always get them mixed up." Stan said with a shrug.

"It doesn't matter." Jackie said with a wide grin, "We've had our fun anyway."

Eric felt a moment of hope. Maybe he wouldn't die! If he was lucky, the injuries wouldn't look so bad and he could pass it off as nothing to his father.

"Get the fuck away from him!"

The two boys froze at the growl. They turned around and saw a pissed off blond hair freshman in the doorway.

Eric's eyes widened as he also turned towards the voice.

"H-Hank?" he whispered, his voice raspy from the crying he had done.

Hank looked over Eric's battered body. It seemed to make the blond angrier. He turned fire filled blue eyes towards the two seniors.

"How dare you hurt Eric." Hank growled as he rushed into the room.

"Who the fu-" Stan started before getting punched in his face.

His body skidded backwards as his hands went to his broken nose. His eyes were filled with anger.

"You'll pay for that you bastard." Jackie said as he lunged at the blond.

Hank growled before ducking and slamming his knee into the guy's gut. Spit came from the senior's open mouth. He crumbled to the ground as he tried to breath, holding his stomach.

"Jackie!" Stan said as he continued to hold his bleeding nose.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Stan said, letting his nose go and letting the blood flood down his face.

He almost looked crazy as he came at the blond.

Hank avoided the attack before punching the guy in his face, hitting the already injured nose. Stan screamed in pain before falling to his knees and landing in a puddle of vomit. At the putrid smell, he began to throw up.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jackie asked from his position on the ground.

Hank didn't answer the guy and just kicked him in his gut. More spit came from his mouth before he fell backwards, laying flat on his back.

"H-Hank..." Eric whispered but Hank didn't seem to hear it.

The blond walked over the Jackie and began to kick the guy in his side. The guy screamed in pain at each kick.

"Hank!" Eric shouted a bit louder.

At this, Hank stopped and turned.

His eyes filled with fear as he looked over the horrible sight of his best friend. He rushed over to Eric's side.

"Eric! Are you okay?!" Hank asked as he kneeled next to the severely injured rich kid.

Eric coughed, a little blood in the corner of his mouth. Hank's eyes dilated in fear before he scooped up the boy into his arms.

"Hold on Eric." Hank whispered before rushing out of the bathroom, leaving the two bullies in pain on the ground.

Hank headed to the nurse's office, hoping she was still there. The coach had said earlier that she would be around during the tryouts. It was better to have her incase someone got injured.

Hank ignored the awful stench of vomit and piss coming from Eric's body. He ignored the stares he got from the guys from the tryouts who were heading towards the locker rooms. He ignored the worried shouts from Diana and Sheila.

Nothing matter.

Nothing but Eric.

Once he reached the nurse's office, he was relieved to find it open. However, when he went inside nobody was there. Hank sighed before bringing the injured teen over to one of the empty beds.

Eric groaned as he felt himself laid down on something soft. He grunted before slowly opening his eyes.

"H-Hank?" he whispered.

"I'm right here." Hank said as he pulled up a chair.

He took one of Eric's hands into his own. The moment the blond tried to hold it, he felt a pain go up his arm. It was here he noticed that he had broken his hand on one of the bastard's face. What made it worse was it was his throwing hand.

"Hank...?"

Hank could see the pain in those brown eyes of his best friend. He forced a smile on his lips and ignored the pain in his hand.

"We're just waiting for the nurse. Don't worry, everything will be alright." Hank said, giving Eric's hand a slight squeeze, with his not injured hand.

Eric groaned, which caused more worry to fill those blue eyes.

"Or maybe I'll go-" he began as he moved to go.

"Please don't..." Eric whimpered.

The boy felt pathetic but he was scared of being alone. He knew that Hank had taken care of those two jerks but they could have also be heading to the nurse's office. Or maybe someone went into the bathroom and found them and would bring them. He wasn't in an condition to protect himself.

Hank looked down at those scared brown eyes. He slowly nodded before scooting his chair as close as it could get to the bed.

"Don't worry. I won't leave you." Hank said with determined blue eyes.

At seeing those eyes, Eric gave a small smile before closing his eyes.

Hank was a bit worried until he saw the slow rise and fall of Eric's chest. He had gone to sleep.

The blond felt a bit relieved but still worried about Eric's injuries. They looked pretty bad. He hoped it was something that the nurse could help. The blond knew how mad the rich boy's father would be if his son had to go to the hospital. It was one of the side effects of being rich. Especially in their small town. The news would spread fast and it wouldn't be pretty. Although, the man would be more upset that the media would treat his son like a sideshow to exploit for a 'good story'.

Eric wouldn't have seen it that way. Hank knew how much his friend thought horribly about his father. Not all of it was unfounded. Some of the things that man would say to his son would infuriate the blond.

Despite that, the man cared deeply for his son. Hank could see it in the way he was strick with the boy. Sometimes it boarderlined controlling. Hank could tell it was out of love. The fact the man was allowing Eric to go to public school instead of a private high school showed that he cared about his son's feelings. Otherwise, the man would have forced Eric to going despite his feelings.

It was Eric's mother who was another story. Hank saw how violent she would get with her eldest son. She was a horrible alcoholic and it was amazing how Eric's father didn't notice. Although, she was good at hiding it in front of him. She would be the one to cause most fights between Eric and his father. She was a horrible person in the blond's book.

A whimper caught Hank's attention. He looked down at his best friend and saw him mumbling in his sleep. At first Hank couldn't understand what his friend was saying. That was until he began to repeat he didn't want to die. Hank felt his blood begin to boil. He should have made sure those assholes never got up. He should have killed them for what they did to his best friend.

But it wasn't like it would have changed anything.

All Hank could do was wait for the nurse to come back and hope that Eric would be okay.

Hank closed his eyes, squeezing Eric's hand with his good hand. It was here the blond made a decision.

'Never again. I'll never let anyone hurt you, never again Eric.' Hank thought.

"I promise you..." Hank whispered aloud.

* * *

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed it! Please drop a review if you enjoyed it!


End file.
